India and RCB superstar batter Virat Kohli set the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium ablaze with his batting prowess as Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) defeated five-time champions Mumbai Indians (MI) by 8 wickets in their campaign opener on Sunday.
Chasing a total of 171 runs, Virat Kohli joined hands with captain Faf du Plessis and together they took the game by storm. It was for the first time in the IPL history, that the Du Plessis-Kohli pair were batting together for RCB, that too, at M. Chinnaswamy. Though, the target of 172 runs looked challenging but the two batting superstars made it a kid’s play.
Virat and Faf took the Mumbai bowling attack to cleaners as they brought the fifty-run stand by the end of the powerplay.
The RCB duo carried on assaulting the talented and world-class bowlers of Mumbai Indians, including the sensational Jofra Archer, and brought up their respective half-centuries as well. Faf got to the milestone of just 29 deliveries while Kohli reached his fifty in 38 balls.
𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃! 🚀
That one lands straight into the stands 👋🏻
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/ws391sGhme#TATAIPL | #RCBvMI pic.twitter.com/BksCCnbube
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 2, 2023
In the 15th over of the game, MI’s Arshad Khan got the better of the RCB skipper to break the brilliant 148-run stand. Dinesh Karthik walked in next, but he failed to open his account and was dismissed by Cameron Green for a 3-ball duck. But Virat Kohli kept on going with his batting assault.
Glenn Maxwell accompanied Kohli as he smashed the winning runs, taking RCB home pretty safely. Eventually, Kohli played an unbeaten knock of 82 runs off 49 balls, smashing 4 fours and 5 sixes.
“Nobody smashed Jofra Archer like this till now ” -Ravi Shastri
Meanwhile, social media has been buzzing with amazing reactions from fans as King Kohli made Jofra Archer look helpless.
Check out the best reactions:
Earlier in the game, riding on the stellar knock of Tilak Varma, Mumbai Indians posted a competitive 171 for seven against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Varma played an unbeaten knock of 84 off 46 balls, which was laced with nine boundaries and four sixes to help MI post the total after being sent into bat.
Varma played like a lone wolf for the five-time champs as MI’s batting line-up collapsed badly on Sunday.
